The Helen Balfour Morrison Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Helen Balfour Morrison Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

Cite As

Helen Balfour Morrison Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Processed by

Catherine Grandgeorge, 2016.

Biography of Helen Balfour Morrison

American photographer and artist.

Helen Balfour was born in Evanston, Illinois on August 1, 1900 or 1901 to Fannie Lindley and Alexander Balfour. In her later teenage years, Helen took a job in a photography studio to help support the family after the death of her mother. At this studio she learned to use the portrait camera and helped expand the studio’s business with creative ideas of her own. In the 1920s, Helen and her brother Malcolm (“Mac”) started their own commercial photography business in Evanston. She married Robert Bruce Morrison (March 5, 1902 – June 19, 1966), a publishing executive, in 1925 or 1926.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Morrison undertook several photography projects. She is known for her “Great Americans” or “Notable Americans” series, photographing some 200 people, among them Robert Frost, Helen Hayes, Nelson Algren, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein, Mies van der Rohe, Amelia Earhart, Jane Addams, and Saul Bellow. During the same time period, Morrison created a series of documentary and artistic photographs of African American communities in Kentucky.

In 1943 she became lighting director and artistic collaborator with modern dancer Sybil Shearer and by the mid-1950s was photographer Shearer exclusively. Her collaboration with Shearer produced a large collection of extraordinary dance photographs and films, as well as an intense and sensitive documentation of Shearer’s life. Their artistic and personal collaborations continued until Helen’s death on November 6, 1984.

Scope and Content of the Collection

Letters, writings, notebooks, clippings, financial and business records and personal items of Helen Balfour Morrison. Materials document the professional and personal life of Morrison, her family, and collaboration with dancer Sybil Shearer.

Correspondence and writings cover a variety of topics, ranging from family history to Morrison’s professional work in the artistic communities of photography and dance. Personal materials cover Morrison’s marriage to publishing executive Robert Morrison through vital, legal, and financial records, along with a variety of personal keepsakes.

Personal and professional correspondence with letters, postcards, telegrams, greeting cards, etc. to and from individuals and groups and organizations. Incoming and outgoing correspondence is combined, and the majority of the items are correspondence to Morrison. Entries with a single name indicate that the folder contains incoming or outgoing correspondence directly with Morrison, while related correspondence not to her is indicated with both names. Some correspondence is addressed not only to Morrison, but also to her husband Robert Morrison and/or her partner Sybil Shearer. Most of Morrison’s outgoing letters are likely drafts written in the later years of her life. Because many of these pages are undated and unnumbered, it is likely that some pages are misfiled.

Covers a variety of topics ranging from personal and family correspondence, letters from dancers and choreographers, appreciation from Morrison’s portrait subjects, and comments about her exhibitions. Family correspondence includes letters to and from her mother and father, Fanny Balfour and Alexander Balfour, brother Malcolm Balfour, niece Tain Balfour and other relatives including Jack Skinner and Thomas Lindley.

Professional correspondence includes letters of introduction, such as a 1935 letter from Mary Woolley to Chief Justice Charles Hughes discussing Morrison’s work on the Great American series. Other highlights are letters of appreciation from portrait subjects such as Thornton Wilder, Karl Priebe, Maud Slye, Abraham Rattner, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Also included is a draft letter written by Morrison to Alice Toklas requesting a photographic session with Gertrude Stein. Correspondence with dancers, choreographers, and critics include letters to and from Ann Barzel, Hanya Holm, Walter Terry, and Doris Hering.

Arrangement note

Arranged alphabetically. Miscellaneous cards and notes, condolence letters, and correspondence with incomplete names are at the end.

Non-fiction and fiction writings by Helen Balfour Morrison, with several pieces by Sybil Shearer related to Morrison’s life and career. Non-fiction writings include family and childhood memories along with genealogical information, memories of portrait subjects and photography projects, and thoughts on the arts. Titles describe some of the main topics in each piece, but they are not a comprehensive list of subjects covered in each part of writing. Although manuscript pages are often numbered, they are sometimes incomplete and may be out of order. Some writings are in Sybil Shearer’s handwriting, and it is unclear whether these are Sybil’s writings or if she was transcribing for Helen. Fictional writings are mostly short stories along with one poem. Morrison’s titles appear in quotes, and many stories have multiple drafts.

Arrangement note

Arranged alphabetically with non-fiction writings first, followed by fictional writings, and ending with writings by others.

Materials related to Morrison’s photography career, filmmaking, and management of Sybil Shearer’s dance company. Notebooks, clippings, and exhibition information provide insight into the development and planning of Morrison’s photographs being shown throughout the United States. Exhibition files are not comprehensive, but often include reviews and announcements, exhibition catalogs, and correspondence. Clippings contain additional information regarding exhibitions and talks given by Morrison in the Chicago area.

Morrison’s artistic collaborations with Sybil Shearer are documented in materials relating to the creation of the film “A Sheaf of Dreams” and other inquiries about their filmmaking. Also included are a small amount of items regarding Morrison’s managerial role in Sybil Shearer’s dance company with contracts, correspondence, and press materials.

Financial, vital, medical, and legal records, property information, and personal keepsakes. There is some overlap between personal and business materials. For example, address books, date books, and notebooks contain a mix of content with writing by Morrison and Sybil Shearer. Wine research materials may have been related to a potential photography project for Morrison and contain notes about wine, vineyard histories, and promotional materials. Includes architectural plans for the Morrison residence in Northbrook, Illinois designed by Robert Seyfarth. Property surveys and correspondence regarding rental property issues provide information about the property owned by Robert and Helen Morrison. Keepsakes include a sketchbook with a few drawings probably by Morrison, one small print by Carol Lou Burnham, inspirational writings, and other ephemera.